Every year, people participate in the famous Green Card lottery, which is usually processed from October to November and the results of the draw can be seen in May of the next year.
The status of your application can be viewed at the website: https://dvprogram.state.gov/ by specifying the individual application number and your personal data. You should have saved the individual application number when you filled out the application. If you receive a winning letter in the mail, be wary because most likely it came from scammers. The U.S. Department of Homeland Affairs never sends letters to the winners of the Green Card lottery.
What to do next if you are the lucky one to win the lottery:
- The first thing you should do is fill out the DS-260 questionnaire. We advise you to fill it as soon as possible. This questionnaire should be filled out for each family member who is going to immigrate with you. Once the questionnaire has been sent, you will need to wait for a response from the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) about what to do next.
- While you are waiting for a response from the KCC, it is necessary to prepare a package of documents.
- The package of documents you will collect will be needed for the interview, and KCC will request some documents to be sent in scanned form.
- You must take a medical examination. U.S. immigration laws require that every applicant who plans to immigrate to the U.S. is vaccinated against a few diseases. Medical examination must be passed by each applicant, in a special clinic which is accredited by the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. The examination must be done before the interview.
- Interview at the U.S. Embassy. The interview is the last stage of the process, all applicants, including children, must come to the embassy on the appointed day. On the day of the interview, the visa officer will make a final decision on the issuance of an immigrant visa.
If you did everything right, then your visa will be approved without problems. This visa is used to enter the U.S., but the green card you will receive at your US address which you provided in your application. The entry visa will be valid until the end of the medical exam, i.e. for 180 days.
There are cases when the immigrant visa is denied even though you were the winner of the Green Card. Here are some reasons:
- You did not provide enough data when you filled out your application
- If you have a criminal record or committed violations of the law;
- You came unprepared for the interview or without a medical examination or other important documents or information.
- You were not able to prove that you will not apply for and be on welfare in the United States.
We also want to mention that the interview is automatically assigned to Kentucky Consular Center (KCC), therefore, you will not be able to choose the desired date. If you are unable to appear on the scheduled date for some reason, you can reschedule the interview, but the U.S. Embassy does not guarantee that the date will be rescheduled. So unfortunately, you will not be able to complete the process.
Getting an immigrant visa is not easy. There are nuances, as well as many pitfalls, which you may not know about. Therefore, we recommend that you get the advice of professionals to assist you in filling out the questionnaire.
